Even as search-and-rescue teams continued to evacuate stranded residents, state and federal officials are planning for the difficult task of rebuilding. Although President Barack Obama declared a disaster and is making federal assistance available, the state and Front Range local governments will have to share in the cost.<\/p>\n
The floods are an opportunity to rebuild the Front Range\u2019s infrastructure better than it was before, Hickenlooper said at a Monday news conference with Craig Fugate, the top official of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But it\u2019s too soon to know the cost.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could throw a number out there, and you would bring that number back in a week and, I\u2019m sure, embarrass me,\u201d Hickenlooper said.<\/p>\n
Fugate told Hickenloooper it could take 30 days to develop a cost estimate, but Hickenlooper said he would try to speed up the process by a week or two. A final cost estimate could be two or three months away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe federal government\u2019s paying a big chunk of it, but the state\u2019s going to pay part of it, the local governments are going to pay part of it. So everyone has an alignment of their incentives to make sure we\u2019re trying to control costs,\u201d Hickenlooper said.<\/p>\n
He hopes a large part of the state and local costs can be recouped through sales-tax collections from an expected surge in construction materials.<\/p>\n
As of Sunday, 17,494 homes were reported damaged and 1,502 destroyed, according to the Colorado Office of Emergency Management.<\/p>\n
Public infrastructure also suffered greatly. Portions of 22 separate highways remained closed on Monday, Sept. 16, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.<\/p>\n
Both Hickenlooper and Fugate said they want to rebuild quickly, but not at the expense of quality design and construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we know there are areas that are very vulnerable to flash flooding, do we want to rebuild the way it was, or do we want to take an opportunity to build back better?\u201d Fugate said.<\/p>\n
Aerial photos of the Big Thompson Canyon \u2013 the main access route to Rocky Mountain National Park \u2013 showed that both lanes of U.S. Highway 34 washed out in some portions. The road befell a similar fate in 1976, when the state\u2019s deadliest flood washed down the canyon and killed 143 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is from the standpoint of a federal taxpayer. You want to go and support communities that are devastated. That\u2019s what we do. But we don\u2019t want to have to keep coming back because we don\u2019t learn the lessons of the last disaster,\u201d Fugate said.<\/p>\n